LA City Council Meeting - September 30, 2026

The Los Angeles City Council met in regular session on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Councilmember John Lee convened the meeting; the clerk reported 11 members present and a quorum, although later roll-call votes recorded 14 ayes. Public comment was taken in person and by teleconference, with one-minute-per-item limits and a three-minute total for agenda items under new SP 707 instructions. The agenda and minutes were not available, so this summary is based on the raw transcript.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the minutes of September 29, 2026, on a motion by Councilmember McCosker and a second by Councilmember Park.
• Approved commendatory resolutions on a motion by Councilmember Hernandez and a second by Councilmember Soto-Martinez.
• Agreed to the agenda structure: items 1-33 were noticed for public hearing, items 34-64 had hearings held, and items 65-72 required 10 votes because public hearings had not been held.
• Adopted the consent package of items 35-61 and 64 with 13 ayes.
• Received and filed items 12, 14, 19, and 25 in a 14-0 vote; item 14 was received and filed because it had been paid.
• Approved item 3 as amended by amending motion 3A (Park/Nazarian) in a 14-0 vote.
• Continued items 1, 4, 5, 16, 21, 26, and 30 to November 18, 2026; item 21 was also called special.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Item 65: A speaker criticized the continued renewal of the local emergency for the January 2025 Palisades and other fires, saying recovery was too slow and appeared focused on MAGA Olympics rebuilding rather than community rebuilding.
• Item 65: Kissud Roha of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles strongly opposed further extending citywide emergency price restrictions without supporting data, noting that Los Angeles County and the state ended their emergency restrictions after 20 months. He urged the council to direct LAHD to report on fire-impacted homeowners renting in multifamily properties or, alternatively, exclude multifamily properties from further extensions.
• Item 66: A speaker said the Boyle Heights fire recovery was being handled even worse than the Palisades recovery and questioned whether community demographics affected the response.
• Items 68/69: Jacqueline Iniguez of the LA Area Chamber of Commerce supported raising the small business tax exemption threshold from the current $100,000 in gross receipts to at least $500,000. She cited the Office of Finance analysis showing 91,000 businesses generate less than $350 in annual business tax liability and supported a phased approach like the one used in 2004.
• Items 68/71/72: A self-employed speaker who described himself as an immigrant and transgender worker supported the small business tax exemption, called for stronger enforcement of workers' rights, including healthcare, overtime, holidays, and weekly hour limits, and supported the unarmed crisis response program while asking that unarmed responders be kept safe.
• Item 67: Virtual caller Daniel Gus argued the city cannot stop federal immigration enforcement due to the supremacy clause, criticized the item for having no financial impact statement, and warned the city could lose federal funds under Executive Order 14159. He also called item 65 misleading and item 66 inadequate.
• Item 67/general: Photographer Eric supported stronger sanctuary-city preparation, citing Bloomberg Law reporting that the DOJ is seeking military lawyers for an expected prosecution surge and a DHS announcement of a nationwide public safety surge in sanctuary cities.
• Items 65/66/68: A caller supported fire-prevention measures and Boyle Heights recovery, backed the small business exemption but with a time limit to prevent manipulation, and urged the city to pursue underground businesses that pay no taxes.
• Items 68/69: A caller supported lower taxes to keep businesses in Los Angeles, citing a business owner who moved to Orange, and urged audits of federal and city spending, referencing an arrest for misuse of homeless services funds.
• General: Other speakers welcomed Belem Lamas as Chief of Policy for Council District 8/Council President Harris-Dawson, invited the council to the LA Italian Festival, urged denial of a LADBS lien and accountability for delayed appeals, raised unsafe conditions at Glory Homes, requested investigation support in a DCFS/family court case, asked for an audit of LA Animal Services, and thanked councilmembers for work on ranked-choice voting.
• General: One virtual caller made offensive remarks during public comment; the Council President apologized, stating the views did not reflect the council, its members, or the city.

Discussion Items

• Item 34 - Street Sweeping and Parking Enforcement: Councilmember Hernandez urged support for the motion directing the Bureau of Street Services and LA Department of Transportation to report on the disconnect between street sweeping and parking enforcement, modernize constituent notifications, and establish proactive citation refunds. She noted pandemic budget cuts dropped some street-sweeping services while posted signs were never updated. The motion would stop citations when sweeping is canceled or after the sweeper has passed, analyze data on missed routes and disputed tickets, and require reimbursement within 15 days.
• Item 67 - Sanctuary City Protections: Councilmember Hernandez urged codifying Mayor Karen Bass' Executive Directive 17, stating no city land should be used for federal immigration enforcement staging, detention, or raid launch pads and no city funds should pay for surveillance of neighbors. She also called for holding contractors who profit from family separation accountable.
• Item 72 - Unarmed Crisis Response: Councilmember Hernandez described the directive asking the CAO and CLA to inventory all existing city safety and diversion programs and organize them into three categories: community-based crisis response and mental health services, crime and violence prevention including domestic and gender-based violence, and victim and survivor support. She said the goal is a permanent care-first public safety infrastructure, with a model applying lessons from programs like UMCR and Circle.

Key Outcomes

• Adopted the public-comment eligible items (2, 6-11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22-24, 27-29, 31-33, 65, 66, 68, 70, and 71) with 14 ayes.
• Adopted items 34, 67, and 72 in a combined 14-0 vote.
• Adopted items 62 and 63 in a separate vote, 11 ayes and 3 noes.
• Adopted item 69, moving the Budget and Finance Committee report, with 14 ayes.
• Approved item 3 as amended and received and filed items 12, 14, 19, and 25, each with 14 ayes.
• Ordered item 67 posted and referred after adoption.
• Continued multiple items to November 18, 2026, as noted above.